True Blue Nation, WPT’s first 2-year-old starter, and first 2-year-old winner of the year, takes on six juvenile fillies in Friday’s $150,000 Schulyerville (G3) at Saratoga.
A start in a graded stake is a great way for WPT Partners to kick off opening day of the 150th anniversary meet.
True Blue Nation, WPT’s first 2-year-old starter, and first 2-year-old winner of the year, takes on six juvenile fillies in Friday’s $150,000 Schulyerville (G3) at Saratoga.
A start in a graded stake is a great way for WPT Partners to kick off opening day of the 150th anniversary meet.
Purchased last summer at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale by West Point Thoroughbreds and St. Elias, True Blue Nation joined trainer Tom Albertrani’s Belmont Park string to prepare for her debut. On June 21, while dispatched as the longest shot on the board at odds of 17-1, she broke her maiden by a very comfortable five lengths.
Because she broke her maiden at the Belmont spring/summer meet, this filly is eligible for a
$100,000 bonus if she wins a graded stake at a NYRA track in 2013.
"She was very impressive first time out," said Albertrani. "Normally, I don't really crank on the 2-year-olds to come out running first time out, but if they do, all the better. I would always expect a better performance second time around, so we were very pleased with that effort first time out."
Albertrani, who described True Blue Nation as a "very, very quiet" filly, said he was pleasantly surprised by her performance.
"If you'd looked at her workouts before the race, you'd never get any indication that she would come out with that kind of speed," he said. "She was one of two fillies of mine in the race, and the other filly (Aldero, who was fifth) had been working a little better. In the afternoons, you don't know what to expect, so I was very, very happy to see her come out running like that. Let's hope she'll take another step forward."
The Schuylerville is race 9 on the opening day card with post time of 5:20 ET. True Blue Nation breaks from post 7 of 7 under Jose Lezcano.
P.S. In case you were wondering how this filly got her her name, here’s the story. We have two University of Kentucky graduates on our team and thought the name True Blue Nation was a cool play off “Big Blue Nation,” or the fan base for the school’s athletic programs. Later did we come to realize that the “True Blue Nation” is actually the official Orlando Magic fan community. Oh ,the things you learn when having fun.
True Blue Nation as a yearling:
